Jessie's Tale: VII from Jessie's pov
by skmt999
Summary: This is simply the beginning of FFVII from Jessie's point of veiw. It's a mild setup for a possible Cloud x Jessie later. But that's another story.
1. Chapter 1

This is sort of pre-Clessie. The tale of FFVII's beginning, from Jessie's pov.Which means it doesn't go very far. The narrative will end with the blackout  
of a crushing weight of building parts on her and not hint at whether she  
survived or not. That's for the 'what-if' stories to do. And keeps it 'cannon'  
for those who insist on that sort of thing. Even though I'm going to be making  
all of this shit up as no one really knows what went on inside her head during  
all that.

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Chapter one - Jessie's Tale

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Jessie pushed back an errant lock of hair again, as she regarded her currentproject with pride.

Not bad for my first bomb. I didn't think it would be this easy!

A little more, and it would be done. Just in time, too. The smaller charges  
were already done and waiting, but this big boy needed a more delicate touch  
to make sure all the odd components worked properly.

_I hope I got the calculations right on that distributor feed for the mako. The  
instructions were a bit fuzzy on it... I know I checked myself five times...  
but... I can't help but remember what mom said about never second guessing  
yourself, since your first instinctive answer is usually right._

Three screws later, some tape - and it was done.  
_Whew. Finally. This baby is ready to rock! I'm so happy!_

Finally Jessie felt she was doing her part in the group. She didn't count the  
ID's. Those were childs play, anyone could do that. And the light hacking to  
find schedules and maps... that wasn't hard either. Someone else could have  
done that. But she knew that none of the others could have gone through the  
complex instructions that had been left for them. Barret wasn't that good  
with fine repairs, and both Biggs and Wedge were hopless at any calculations  
higher than how to rip off merchants, or order a meal. Tifa had her bar to  
run, and that left her.

_Not that I gave them much choice... Practically pounced on those plans when  
Barret brought them out._

Jessie laughed to herself at the memory. Barret had just about lost his good  
hand when she'd snatched the papers up from the table. It had just looked so  
challenging. And goodness knows, she could never resist a challenge.

_Well, I got everything done on time, just like I said I would. Hours earlier than  
Biggs bet me, too._  
Jessie smiled in wry amusement. He was just going to have to buy her drinks  
for the next week, and never mind his grumbling.

Not too long now, and the group would get together to hammer out the final  
details. They were expecting that mystery freind of Tifa's any time now.  
Hopefully he'd be of some use.

_Hm, wonder if he's cute._

Jessie giggled to herself a little at the thought.

_Wouldn't it just frost Tifa if her freind and me hit it off?_

Her smile trailed off. Not that it mattered. No one would take a second look  
at her anyway. No one worth talking to, anyway. Especially with someone as  
vibrant as Tifa to compare her to.

Jessie firmly pushed those self defeating thoughts aside, and refocused on  
the task at hand. No point in worrying about needless things. Plenty of good  
things in life. Like successfully finishing a complicated project!

She fussed about her workspace a bit, putting all the little components back  
in their spots. Checked the news to make sure there were no more rumors  
about terrorist groups again, and turned back to her computer for a bit  
before the meeting.  
Jessie started tapping away at a string of code she was working on, and  
mused about Barret's big mouth. Wedge was almost as bad... but few people  
believed it when HE spoke about blowing things up.

_Dammit, Barret. And this is why Tifa won't let you get drunk anymore. Last  
time you got drunk, you went out and beat up a batch of poor ShinRa guards,  
and yelled at them that AVALANCHE was gonna make them pay. I can't  
believe it actually made the news. We couldn't meet for a month after that,  
too risky. I hope they've forgotten about that by now..._

Jessie looked up, as the pinball machine lowered down to her hidden  
workroom. Well, to be honest it wasn't really HER workroom... it was the  
group's meeting spot and she was allowed to keep all her delicate projects  
here so it could be worked on in secret. Her little hole of an apartment,  
shared with her buds Biggs and Wedge was hardly what you'd call 'private'.  
Especially not with half the neighborhood in and out of there on a daily basis.

_At least I've convinced most of them that I'm a harmless computer gamer.  
Who'd guess that the 25th top player on ShinRa-Online's forums is also one  
of ShinRa's main opponants. Yeah. I'd never buy that either._

Wedge stepped off the platform and waved morosely to Jessie, who waved  
back cheerfully. Biggs slid down the open area to hop down nearby. He nodded  
sedately and sauntered over to his spot in the room.

Looks like the meeting was about to begin. Good.  
_Let's get this started. I'm so itchy, I can't tell if I'm nervous or excited. Wow!  
I'm going to have to spend some extra time practicing my kicks on the  
dummy tonight to wind down!_

She stifled another giggle and smiled brightly as the pinball machine made its  
stately way back down again. Barret stepped off and yelled back up the  
opening.

"Yo! Tifa! Hurry it up, will ya? Them bums can just wait! C'mon!"  
Downright polite tonight. He must be in a good mood.

She couldn't help it. Jessie laughed outright as Tifa stuck her head over the  
opening.  
"You can just wait a moment too, mister. I've got a few things left to do up  
here and I'll be right down. Businesses don't just run themselves, you know."  
Tifa quirked a smile as she playfully shook her finger at Barret. She  
disappeared a few moments before the platform finished settling back in it's  
place upstairs.

Barret grumbled to himself as he wandered around, kicking things. Biggs just  
shook his head and leaned back against the wall. Wedge seemed lost in  
thought. Not much bothered him.

A few moments later, the platform creaked down one last time. Tifa and  
little Marlene stepped off. Marlene skipped over to Barret and threw her  
arms up in the universal child language for UP!  
Barret obliged with a grin, and swung the little girl up on his broad shoulder.  
Then he took one step up to the big table and banged his gun arm down on it,  
making Marlene bounce and giggle in the process.

"Listen up! We got a big job ahead. Our most important job so far! Don't be  
messin' up! Tifa says her freind is rollin' into town tomorrow. We'll be waitin'  
for him, and go straight to work. No time to lose! The planet is dyin' more  
each minute!  
Now, here's our plans," he tapped the mapped out route from the train  
station to the reactor forcefully, like they hadn't all memorized it by now,  
"Y'all know where you're goin' and what you're doin', or at least - you'd better  
by now! Don' want any fuckups this time, ya hear me?"

The group nodded. Wedge grimaced in embarrassment.

"Right, now le's go over the checklist we got. Says here checklists are  
important in a big operation."  
Barret hunched over the paper with the instructions on it, and read off  
everybody's roles. As he went down the list, each person involved nodded and  
affirmed they had it down.

"Tha's the list then. 'Bout time to get this show on the road. Ain't no  
stopping us now!" Barret raised his gun arm in the air and waved it around to  
accentuate his point. Marlene laughed and hung on tight.  
"Huh. Well, I'll meet up with you slackers at the train tomorrow. Better not be  
late, or else!"  
He stepped back from the table, meeting concluded in his own abrupt way.

"What about me, Papa?" The sweet piping voice made everyone smile, even  
Biggs.

"Aw, baby. You got the biggest job. You get to help Tifa make sure no one  
sneaks into our secret base and runs off with anything. You c'n do that,  
right?" Barret smiled at his little cherub, and carried her over to the  
platform as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yup! I'm a good helper!" Marlene giggled, and kicked her feet against Barret's  
chest. Everyone smiled indulgently at the girl. And each hoped that they'd be  
back to see her again after the job.

"Well, that's it then." Tifa took charge, and tried to wrap things up. "I'll see  
you guys after it's done. Please be careful."

Barret scowled back at Tifa as he stepped onto the platform.  
"Much as we can. Dammit, it'll be worth it if we can just get those damned  
Reactors shut down."  
The platform rose, relieving the rest of the group of Barret's unending  
speeches about the fate of the planet. Not that they didn't care. They did, a  
lot! Just... it got a little old, hearing him harp on it constantly.

Jessie shut down her computer carefully, and ran up to Tifa for a quick hug  
before hopping on the platform with Biggs.  
_Wow. Tomorrow. It all starts at the train. I'm ready! I know I am. I can fight  
as good as anyone around here, and we'll finally be doing something to help  
the planet! - Oh! I've got to calm down. Need to get my sleep tonight._

Wedge caught up with Jessie and Biggs as they walked slowly towards the  
weapons shop. It was a short walk home, but they'd still have to watch out  
for trouble.

"Hey guys, you ever think we'd get this far? I mean, we're actually going to do  
something! Who would have thunk it. The rest of our mates would be proud,  
huh?" Wedge stared off into the distance, as they all took a moment to  
remember their only family. The recent war had left a good few orphans in  
the slums. A bunch of them had grouped together in their own little gang and  
taken care of each other. Most of them were dead now, or moved away when  
they could. Only the three of them were left.

Jessie nodded slowly. "Yeah, Wedge. They'd be proud to see us taking ShinRa  
down a peg. You know it. Now let's get home and rest up for tomorrow. And  
don't forget to set your alarm this time, Biggs! I can't be waking you up every  
time!" Jessie laughed, and poked Biggs in the arm as she skipped on past.  
Home was in sight. The ragtag trio entered the falling down shack with the  
red bandana tied to the doorknob. No place like home, even if it was trash by  
other people's standards.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The rust colored train squealed to a stop, throwing up bits of dust in the stillair.  
Jessie followed Biggs and Wedge inside, and carefully found a seat.

This was where things got iffy. They were supposed to meet up with Tifa's  
freind while on the train. He'd been briefed by Tifa, and took the job without  
ever meeting the others.

Jessie didn't know about Barret, but the description Tifa had given them of  
her freind was kind of... lacking. Spikey yellow hair and a big sword. What if  
there were two such people on board the train tonight? She could just see  
Barret trying to figure out which one was the right guy. It's not like you can  
say, 'hey- did you agree to do a terrorist bombing for an old friend?' It might  
be safer to stroll up to a likely person and ask if they used to know Tifa...  
but around these parts, a lot of people knew Tifa. Her bar drew custom from  
all over Midgar. Even the snobby upper-plate people came down now and again  
to 'slum it' just for one of her mixed drinks.

While Jessie was lost in her circles of thought, a stranger approached  
Barret. He had yellow spikey hair, and carried a big lump of metal on his back.  
And he was cute!

"Are you Tifa's freind? The one with the job?" The unknown man stood there  
diffidently, like it didn't really matter one way or the other. His odd blue eyes  
flitted over everything before settling just beyond Barret's shoulder as he  
awaited a response.

Barret was flummoxed. "? How'd you know that?"

The stranger shifted his feet and lifted an arm to scratch his head. "Well,  
there aren't that many large angry black men with a gun arm on this train. I  
figured it was a safe bet you were who Tifa wanted me to meet up with." He  
smiled awkwardly, and looked out a window.

Barret started grumbling, usually a sure sign he was going to work his way up  
to a full scale rant on the state of the earth and the role of Avalanche as it's  
saviors. But he didn't get a chance to get started. The young man looked up,  
and got right to the point.

"I don't know what Tifa's told you about me, and I don't care. I just want to  
get this done with so I can get paid. What's our ETA?" The spikey haired  
fighter stood under the dim lights of the train car, waiting with bored  
patience for things to get going. He was so together, so professional! Jessie  
found herself blushing, and turned to look out the window. Another time, and  
she might have jumped to offer the information before Barret could mess  
things up with his questionable people skills. But she didn't trust herself not  
to stutter.

_Get a hold of yourself. It's not like you've never seen real professionals  
before... Just not so close, that's all. You can do this, just as good as him.  
You know it. It's your bomb that's going to make this happen, so there's no  
reason to feel so underclassed..._

Wedge was staring at the stranger in fascination. This was the kind of guy  
he'd always wanted to be... but life kept getting in the way. Biggs seemed  
ready to go back to sleep, leaning against the far wall. Most of the other  
passengers had seen exchanges like this far too often to be curious.  
Curiosity was dangerous in the slums.

Barret's face turned red, and he started waving his gun arm around.

"Now listen, you! Don't be gettin' any ideas. Just because you think you're  
some hotshot doesn't mean you're in charge. This is MY team, and you follow  
what I say while you're workin' with us. Understand!"

The blond just crossed his arms and looked at Barret. Made like he was  
looking at a watch, and recrossed his arms to wait.

Barret just about exploded, but Biggs broke in calmly without even opening  
his eyes.

"We're getting off in two stops. The fun starts then. Let's save our energy  
for when we need it, all right?" Biggs then settled against the wall a little  
more, and proceeded to ignore the whole carload of people as best he could.  
Which was completely.

Jessie smiled and shook her head. Biggs may protest it, but he had the  
makings of a leader. He rarely blew his top, and never acted outside his  
ability. If he didn't know something, he'd say so and let someone else speak.  
Sometimes Barret's enthusiasm got the better of him, but he had the most  
experience with this stuff, and he was the only one willing to take charge. If  
Biggs had a fault, it was that he'd much rather not have to be the one to  
make decisions. His last girlfreind broke up with him for that reason. She  
wanted to leave Midgar, and he didn't want to be the one to make that choice.  
So she did for him, by simply leaving. He didn't seem too heartbroken. Which  
was just as well. There was a girl down at the HoneyBee who'd been eyeing  
him when she was off duty for the past month now. They'd be so cute  
together...

Jessie let herself be distracted with normal thoughts through the next train  
stop before shaking her head and getting back on track.

_I hope everything goes well. We've been planning this for so long. It'll really  
make a difference, I'm sure of it!_

Sometimes hope for a better future was the only thing that let her sleep at  
night. That's why she'd joined Avalanche. To try and make her hopes come  
true. It made her sick to see how this city just sucked the life out of  
everything. It was like walking around with a bruise on her heart.

The lights flickered a bit, and the train started squealing to it's next stop.  
This was it. Time to go. Biggs was the first one to hit the doors, and Jessie  
made sure she was right next. This was it! Time to prove she could make a  
difference.


	3. Chapter 3

this chapter is getting a rewrite. I don't like how it came out.  
Too much like the script and not enough like a story.

-----------------------------------------------------------  
ch3 - The beginning of the game. A job begun.  
-----------------------------------------------------------

As the adrenaline hit, Jessie was amazed to find that she and Biggs had  
taken out the two guards as if they'd choreographed it. The rush of success  
left her giddy, and they'd only started!

_Calm down... we aren't even at the Reactor yet. _

She ran around the corner, and stood next to the gate. Trying to hide her  
nerves was getting harder. It seemed that the excitement was finally getting  
to Biggs, too. He tried to strike up a converation with Tifa's mystery friend.

"Wow! You used to be in Soldier, huh? ... Not everyday ya find one in a group  
like Avalanche."

_Oh! That's right! He did mention being in Soldier. But... _

She pivoted to look at Biggs and the blonde, confusion and mistrust on her  
face.

"What's he doing with us in Avalanche?"  
She just couldn't figure it. Those elite fighters were ShinRa property, why  
would one be running around with slum kids?

Biggs shook his head.

"He WAS in SOLDIER, Jessie. But he quit and is with us now." He winked at her,  
and turned his head to ask the stranger, "I didn't catch your name..."

The ex-Soldier seemed reluctant to speak. "...Cloud."

Biggs, not to be put off by the newcomer's attitude, continues on.  
"Cloud, eh? I'm..."

Cloud shook his head abruptly and interrupted Biggs.  
"I don't care what your names are. Once this job's over... I'm outta here."  
He glowered slightly and stood stiffly, obviously uncomfortable with the  
situation.  
Jessie couldn't really blame him. He must have some reason to be here, and  
he knew what they were doing... so he must have something against ShinRa.  
But it was one thing to say the 'enemy of my enemy is my freind', and  
another thing enirely to stand there chatting with your former enemies.

Barret ran around the corner and joined them, after making sure they  
weren't followed. As usual, he was angry.

"The hell you all doin'? I thought I told you never to move in a group! Our  
target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it."

As soon as the door opened, the group slipped inside. This had been the easy  
part.

As he's pushing past the door, Barret throws back over his shoulder at the  
spike head, "Ex-SOLDIER, huh? I don't trust ya!"

Not that he trusted much of anybody. Just his close freinds. It would have  
been unreal for him to have trusted this new guy right away. Jessie shook  
her head to herself, and noticed out of the corner of her eye, Cloud was  
looking up at the Reactor.

Cloud walked in behind everyone, and watched as Wedge hurried over to his  
assigned spot.

Wedge was thankful that they'd gone over this so many times in advance. If  
they hadn't he'd probably have frozen with fright by now. He noticed Cloud  
watching him, and tried to look confident.

"I'll secure our escape passage. You concentrate on the mission, Cloud."

Safe in his position, Wedge started talking to himself again. A habit they'd  
never broken him of, and the reason they never gave him jobs requiring  
stealth.

"Geez, we're really gonna blow this huge furnace up? This'll be somethin' to  
see!"

The others headed towards the control room ahead. Thankfully, there was no  
unexpected staff to deal with.  
As Cloud ambled up, with that closed and bored look on his face, Barret  
decided he wasn't taking this seriously enough.  
"Yo! This your first time in a reactor?"

Cloud turned to look at Barret, not sure what the point of the question was.  
"No. After all, I did work for Shinra, y'know."

A manic gleam entered Barret's eyes, and he started winding up for one of  
his (in)famous speeches.  
"The planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it everyday."

Cloud just shrugged. Unimpressed with this bit of information that a even a  
three year old knew.

Barret was irritated at Cloud's lack of enthusiasm for his favorite topic.  
"It's the life blood of this planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with  
these weird machines."

He probably would have gone on in great detail, but fortunately, their new  
hired mercenary wanted to make sure they got things over with before the  
shift change.

Cloud looked Barret straight in the eye.  
"I'm not here for a lecture. Let's just do it."

Barret just shrugged. He'd just have to keep an eye on this Spikey headed  
punk.  
"Alright! You come with me from now on." He stood close and cast frequent  
glares over at Cloud, just to make sure the kid knew he was being watched.

Jessie smiled up at Cloud, and nodded to Biggs.  
"Biggs and I got the code for this door."

Biggs wandered casually over to the first big door, locked with a keypad.  
"Code deciphered." The door opened, and he smiled slightly, relieved that the  
code was correct.  
"Think how many of our people risked their lives, just for this code..."  
He had nightmares thinking of what could have happened if any of his freinds  
had gotten caught. But, now it seemed things were paying off.  
Jessie ran on ahead of Barret and Cloud, and quickly punched in the next  
passcode.  
"Code deciphered." Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. This was working  
perfectly!

Biggs stayed to make sure no one interfered from up here, and the others  
ran onto the waiting elevator. Jessie took charge briskly, with a swish of her  
ponytail.  
"Push that button over there!" She nodded at Cloud and pointed at the  
controlls on the other side of the lift.

As the elevator hummed into motion, Barret gave in and filled the silence,  
trying to continue his speech to Cloud from earlier.  
"Little by little the reactors'll drain out all the life. Then that'll be that."

Cloud, however, was less than pleased that Barret had chosen the middle of a  
mission to expound on his beliefs.  
"It's not my problem." With a turn of his head, and a fixed stare at the  
elevator doors, Cloud hoped that Barret would get the hint and shut up.

All his apparent apathy did was make Barret mad.  
"The planet's dyin', Cloud!" Barret was astounded that Cloud could be so cold.  
This was a serious situation, and the kid was pretending it didn't matter!

"The only thing I care about is finishing this job before security and the  
Roboguards come." Which was true. If they got caught by security before  
setting the bomb, things would get very difficult.

Barret bit back his next retort and just consoled himself with slamming his  
fist into the wall behind him. You can't make someone interested in your  
causes, after all. Although he admitted to himself he was disappointed in  
Tifa's freind. He'd thought any friend of Tifa would care more about the  
Planet.

The elevator doors opened, and everyone filed out. Time for the next part.

Jessie passed Cloud and paused before taking her spot.  
"Hey, make sure you hang on to the ladder real good, it's kind of damp in  
here, wouldn't want you to fall." She smiled cheerfully, and hopped on over to  
her watch post. Cloud looked at her oddly before beginning his climb down.  
SHe watched as Barret and Cloud made their way to the Reactor Core.  
_I hope they don't mess up my bomb. I made the interface real simple, so  
Barret wouldn't have a problem with it. _Oh! Looks like he's going to have  
Cloud do it. Yeah, probably doesn't want to seem clumsy with his one hand in  
front of the mercenary.

The sound of their conversation carried easily up to where she watched, just  
out of their sight.

Barret passed the bomb to Cloud, and took what he thought was a  
commanding tone. "When we blow this place, it ain't gonna be nothin' more  
than a hunka junk. Cloud, you set the bomb."

Cloud blinked in confusion, and accepted the bomb.  
"Shouldn't you do it?"

Folding his arms, Barret answered testily, "Jus' do it! I gotta watch to make  
sure you don't pull nothin'."

With a small scowl and a hitch of his shoulders, Cloud stepped forward.  
"Fine, I'll do it."  
Inwardly, he was rolling his eyes.

There'd been a small noise over by the ladder, and Jessie turned her head to  
check. Just a drip of water. She looked back to the floor below, and the next  
thing Jessie saw was Cloud's knees buckling, and he fell to the floor.  
She gasped at the unexpectedness of it, and worried to herself.

_Oh dear! What could have happened, I only turned my head away for a  
second... I didn't see any enemies... Oh! _

Barret, however, didn't seem very worried. Just irritated that the boy was  
being a prima donna.  
"What's wrong?" He scowled down at the blonde, but the look in his eyes  
showed a hint of worry.

Not that Cloud noticed. His eyes had the glazed look of someone who'd hit  
their head.  
"Huh?" Cloud shook his head to try and clear it, and started to stand back up.

Barret sighed in relief that his new partner hadn't died of a brain seizure orsomething. Now, if the kid would quit playing around. This was no time to nap!  
"What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry it up!"

Cloud shook his head again, and took a better hold of the bomb.  
"...Yeah, sorry." He still seemed a bit confused, like he didn't know what had  
happened either. But regardless, he strode over to the Core and knelt down  
to fiddle with the bomb's controls.

The Reactor's security system finally goes off, and a siren deafens the  
group. It was expceted, that was why the two best fighters were chosen to  
set the bomb and deal with whatever the security system set at them.

Barret saw it coming first. A first rate Gaurd Scorpion, much like a huge  
robot.  
"Heads up, here it comes!" He yelled to Cloud, who was already preparing to  
fight.

All Jessie could do was watch. She was too far up to give any assistance,  
even something simple like throwing a grenade. Not that her aim was all that  
good anyway. She held her breath, and winced every time one of her  
teammates got hit. It was obvious that they could handle things, but...

_Oh, please make it out of this all right! We still have our escape to  
make!_

She was so busy watching the fight below, that she didn't take enough care  
with her feet. One leg slipped right through the wide spaced grating, and  
caught between a pipe just below it and the grating itself.

_Dammit! Of all the times! Jessie, you idiot, you know better than this!  
Letting yourself get distracted when it was obvious they'd be ok! Ah! If I  
mess things up, that's it for us. I've got to get free!_

Jessie struggled with her cuaght leg for a bit, until a shadow fell over her.  
Cloud knelt down beside her, and held out a hand.  
"You all right?"

Embarrassed, Jessie kept her words short.  
"My leg got stuck." With his help, her stuck leg got unstuck easily, and shestood up. She tested it, and discovered it was wrenched slightly. Well, she'd just have to be careful then. Jessie brushed her hands off on her legs, and  
chirped out a quick "Thanks!" before bouncing off.

She winced to herself as soon as she was faced away from Cloud.

_Oh, man. I must seem like such a loser to him. Ah! He held my hand!  
Wow._

As soon as everyone got back into the last room, Biggs nodded impatiently to  
everyone.  
"Let's go!"  
He'd had a rough time waiting without being able to see what was going on.  
He'd vaguely heard battle noises, and things seemed to have dragged out  
horribly. He was impatient to get out of here so they could relax again.

They trotted over to the next door, which was locked with a keypad. Jessie  
had this code, and ran up to punch it in.  
"Code deciphered." She smiled briefly as the door opened, and they all ran  
past to the next one. There were still random enemies around here to be  
cautious of.  
"Alright, be careful." It was more of a reminder from her than anything. They  
were all too nervous to get careless just yet.

Up to the next door with a keypad. It was Biggs' turn. He ran his fingers  
across the keypad with more practice than Jessie would have imagined.  
"Code deciphered." He just nodded when it slid open. All was going as they'd  
planned.

The group ran through the door, and into the hallway. There was Wedge,  
standing at the left of the intersection at his designated spot. He was wide  
awake and ready to go. They'd been gone long enough he was worried he'd  
have to head out without them.

It was time for the reunited group to hightail it out of there, and make their  
escape before the bomb went off. Just as the entire group had almost made  
it to the door, Jessie's sore ankle chose to finish going out, and she slammed  
to her knees, barely missing a faceplant.  
Cloud looked back at her short exclamation of pain, and without thinking ran  
back to help her up.

They made it to the other side of the door just as the timer on the Reactor  
hit zero. The rumbles of it's explosion shook the walls. Wedge looked  
nervously at Jessie. This was her cue to make sure it would take a while for  
anyone to get back inside.

She knelt by the door and set up the smaller charge she'd had prepared.  
Grimly focused on her task, she didn't notice Cloud watching her deft fingers  
as they flew.

Biggs relaxed slightly, now that the most dangerous part was over. He went  
back to his casual front, and smirked over at Barret.  
"That should keep the planet going... at least a little longer."

Wedge heaved a sigh of relief.  
"Yeah." He hoped no one had noticed his knees shaking when they'd met up  
with him at the door. He wanted to pull of the calm and collected appearance  
his freind Biggs had, but he just wasn't that cool.

There was a distracted nod from Barret, agreeing with Biggs. He wasn't  
really paying attention, already thinking of the next step.

Jessie stood quickly and turned around. This bomb was on a much shorter  
timer, and would blow a hole in the wall for them to escape by.  
"OK! Now everyone get back." She set the example and pressed herself  
against the opposite wall.

The explosion is just a tad bit bigger than she'd expected, and no one needed  
any urging to dive through the newly created opening to escape the smoke,  
fire, and falling debris.

With a variety of rolls, dives, and stumbles, team Avalanche found itself  
safely outside. Mission complete.

Before anyone could starte congratulating themselves, Barret took control  
of the situation and reminded them that the mission wasn't quite complete.  
They had to get home safely first.  
"Alright, now let's get out of here. Rendezvous at the Sector 8 station! Split  
up and get on the train!"  
Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge make no reply. They hastily make their way out to  
the next level on the street and do their best to blend in.

Cloud stands there for a moment, a little alarmed. Tifa hadn't said anything  
about this part. He trotted up and stopped Barret before the big man could  
run off, and opened his mouth to ask where the Sector 8 Station was. Just  
because he used to be in Soldier, didn't mean he knew Midgar's layout. They'd  
come out at a totally different area than where they'd gone in, and it wasn't  
obvious to him where he was supposed to go. He watched the three with red  
bandanas run off, and saw the big guy with the gun arm get ready to leave in  
a different direction. Fear set in, as he realized they were all leaving him  
stranded.  
"H-hey!"

Barret mistook Cloud's intentions, and shrugged the blonde off.  
"If it's about your money, wait 'til we get back."

Cloud was left staring after Barret's back as the big man ran off.


End file.
